October 23, 1917

Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams Wrote to Her Son from Prison

Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams (1874–1957), a suffragist from Norfolk, used a borrowed pencil to write this letter on prison toilet paper. Adams was incarcerated for picketing in front of President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) during a Selective Service parade. She and thirteen other women were given a choice between paying a $25 fine and serving sixty days at the Occoquan Workhouse in Fairfax County. The suffragists choose to go jail. The workhouse was investigated for ill treatment of its inmates soon after Adams arrived, and she was transferred to a District of Columbia jail.